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Giovanni Pelico, a third-year cinematic arts cinematography student, poses with his free shirt outside one of the tables on Nov 6. Josh Gentle | Long Beach Current<\/p>\n
About a dozen Long Beach State student services tables were set up by the Speaker\u2019s Platform outside of the Beach Shops Bookstore on Nov. 6 to celebrate first-generation students.<\/p>\n
National First-Generation College Celebration Day is on Nov. 8th. The date commemorates the 1965 Higher Education Act, which sought to increase access to education for underrepresented students.<\/p>\n
The event was dedicated to the celebration of first-generation students, but also an attempt to ensure their continued success. Organizations including TRiO Student Support Services, Basic Needs and GenExcel mentorship program lined the bustling walkways of upper campus.<\/p>\n
The complimentary Subway sandwiches and drinks set out for attending students disappeared almost instantly, and free t-shirts were passed out in copious amounts.<\/p>\n
Brandi Pierre, academic skills coach at TRiO Student Support Services, described her first-generation experience as \u201cbeing a trailblazer for the people before me, [and] an example for them to be able to see if I could do it, they can do it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
TRiO<\/a> Student Support Services is an organization at CSULB designed primarily for low-income, first-generation or disabled students to support their needs as they navigate higher education.<\/p>\n As a skills coach at TRiO, Pierre said her job allows her to give students the confidence to ask for help. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re gonna want to help people have what\u2019s called a sense of belonging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Another table that garnered a continuous flow of interested students was Basic Needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Basic Needs<\/a> seeks to support all students, with a primary focus on serving first generation students who seek their assistance. Some of these services include food, financial and housing support, especially for students with children.<\/p>\n \u201cMost [first-generation students] do suffer more in food insecurity,\u201d Jiovanni Fernandez, CalFresh<\/a> outreach assistor and third-year nursing major, said. \u201cI suffered through food insecurity when I first came to school on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Basic Needs ties academic success to a stable home life and tries to alleviate the struggles that some students face that might hinder their educational pursuits.<\/p>\n Fernandez, a first-generation student, initially wanted to attend college to see through his parents\u2019 dream of completing college. He felt a responsibility as their firstborn child.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [being first-generation] means empowerment and [believing] we can do something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The GenExcel mentorship program was present, promoting their services.\u00a0<\/p>\n